Amalgamator



Patented June 21, 1938 UNITED STATES mists PATENT OFFE land, Calif.

and Victor E. Zackerson,

Alameda,

Application March 18, 1935, Serial No. 11,660

2 Claims.

The invention relates to machines used in connection with amalgamating operations such as for mixing powdered ore with mercury.

An object of the invention is to provide an amalgamator of the character described which is especially adapted for the concentrating and removal of gold particles from gold bearing ore, and which will provide not only for the bringing of the ore into intimate contact with the mercury for amalgamation, but also for such a movement of the ore while in contact with the mercury that the full exterior surface of all of the ore particles will be passed into operative engagement with the mercury.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described that will, notwithstanding the confined movement of the ore or slurry into intimate contact with the mer cury, as aforesaid, provide for a continuous and uninterrupted fiow of material through the device and positively prevent any stoppage of the various passages or packing of the ore in a way interfering with the efficient operation of the device.

A further object of the invention is to provide an amalgamator of the above character in which a positive automatic feeding of material through the device will be effected without the use'of exteriorly applied power, and wherein exterior power is applied substantially entirely for the purpose of obtaining an intimate mixture of the materials whereby the device will be more or less positive in operation with but a minimum expenditure of power.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of an amalgamator constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a plan sectional view of the amalgamator shown in Figure 1 and is taken substantially on the plane of the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

The amalgamator shown in the accompanying drawing is comprised of a single unitary support 1 which includes a bed plate 8, a vertical overhanging bracket 9 and a raised intermediate spaced bottoms I2 and i3 and sides i l and Hi 1 of a mixing pan l1 and a plate 98 positioned therein. As here shown, the pan is rotatably supported by means of cooperating bearing portions 19 and 2! on the shelf I I while the plate i3 is supported by means of a shaft 22 rotatably ,carried in a bearing 23 provided at the outer end 24 of the overhanging bracket 9. v

In accordance with the present invention, a deposit of mercury is first placed within the pan I1 so as to completely fill the space 255 defined between the bottoms of the plate and pan, and to extend partially up into the annular space 21 defined between the pan and plate side walls. Then slurry is introduced into the space 26 so that the mineral particles will be caused to float through the mercury in intimate contact therewith. The introduction of the slurry into this space is here effected by forming the shaft 22 of tubular construction so as to define an inlet conduit 28 which extends from an enlarged intake portion 29 at the upper end of the shaft through the bottom It of the plate so as to open directly to the space 28 thereat. Since, as here shown, the intake 29 is disposed well above the side walls IA of the pan, it will be understood that a natural gravitational flow of slurry will be effected through the conduit 28 and radially through the space 26, and thence up through the mercury by way of the annular passage 2'! and over the sides of the pan. A drain member 3| may be mounted around the sides of the pan for gathering and discharging the pan overflow. If desired the upper edge 32 ofthe pan walls [4 may be'beveled outwardly and provided with riffles 33 as here shown so as to agitate the material on flow thereover.

The space 26 is preferably, as here shown, relatively wide and very shallow, in practice not exceeding approximately one eighth of an inch in depth for smaller sized devices, and to insure the retention of a quantity of mercury to within the space, notwithstanding the outward flow therethrough of the slurry, we prefer to amalgamate at least one, or in some instances both, of the opposite surfaces 34 and 36 of the pan and plate bottoms l2 and I3. It will thus be understood that on the passage of the slurry through this relatively confined space, in which a certain amount of mercury is maintained, a very intimate association is effected between the mineral particles and the mercury, and that this passage of slurry is substantially entirely effected by the natural gravitation of the material through the machine.

This radial passage of the slurry through the space 26 is increased somewhat upon rotation of the pan I1. Also, an additional and important function of such rotation is to cause the mineral particles to be deflected circumferentially from a straight radial passage and thereby caused to roll and orient themselves for complete contact thereof with the mercury. Furthermore, the rotation of the pan stimulates and insures the overflow of sand and other particles from the pan. Normally but a relatively slow rotation of the pan is sufficient to provide a proper flow of material through the machine and yet afford a sufficiently long duration of contact between the slurry and the mercury. The centrifugal force imparted to the slurry by the pan may be offset somewhat by rotating the plate in an opposite direction, and this also has the added effect of increasing the circumferential agitation of the mineral particles and causing a greater turning thereof in and mixing with the mercury. In no event, however, is the centrifugal force set up by the rotating pan and plate to be sufficient to cause an overflow of the mercury from the pan. Since the rotation of the pan and plate are, as above indicated, effected at a relatively slow speed and not for the accomplishment of any substantial work, it will be understood that the wear on the moving parts will be very slight, and that the power required for rotating the members will be but a minimum.

As here shown the pan is mounted for rotation on the upper end 31 of a vertical drive shaft 38, carried by the shelf II and bed plate 8 and which is driven through a pair of bevel gears 39 and 40, and a horizontal shaft 40, by a motor 42 mounted on the bed plate at the outside of the bracket 9. A set screw 43 carried in the base of the pan serves in the present case to detachably secure the pan to the shaft 38. R- tation of the plate, on the other hand, is arranged to be effected in an opposite direction through means of pulley wheels 44 and 46 mounted on the shafts 22 and 4| respectively and which are connected by a cable 41, here shown supported in operative relation to the pulley wheels by means of sheaves 48 mounted on the upper side of the bracket 9.

Also, in the present embodiment, the pulley wheel 44 is provided with a set screw 49 for adjustably positioning the wheel on the shaft 22 and is arranged to bear on the outer side of the bracket end bearing 23 so as to control the relative positioning of the plate l8 in the pan, and a collar is preferably mounted on the shaft 22 at the under side of the bearing 23 for preventing or limiting the outward movement of the plate from the pan.

Means are also provided for preventing the material from packing in the pan l1 directly under the inlet conduit 28 which, in the present embodiment, comprises a screw 52 which is fixed to the bottom l3 of the pan and extends upwardly into operative relation with the open end of the conduit. Thus, on rotation of the pan, the material is drawn through the grooves of the screw and into the amalgamating space 25.

As will be understood, after the machine has been in operation for some time it is desirable that the pan ll be removed so that the contents thereof may be carefully treated for the removal of gold or other amalgamated products. To effect the removal of the pan I'l, it is first necessary to remove the plate and shaft 22 so as to make room for the removal of the pan. This has been arranged for, in the present embodiment, by securing the plate l8 and shaft 22 together as a unit and providing for their ready removal by forming the bearing 23 with a detachable outer half section 53. Thus, to effect a removal of the pan I! it is only necessary to first remove the bearing section 53 and the shaft and plate assembly and then loosen the set screw 43 to permit the raising of the pan off the shelf H and the upper end 31 of the shaft 38.

We claim:

1. An amalgamator of the character described comprising, a pair of members providing opposed spaced surfaces defining a relatively wide shallow space therebetween arranged to be submerged in mercury, one of said members being mounted for rotation along an axis intersecting said space, slurry inlet means opening to said space adjacent said axisand providing for a flow of slurry radially through said space with respect to said axis, means of rotating said last mentioned member to increase said radial flow and to impart to said slurry an annular motion and means for rotating said other member in an opposite direction so as to partially balance the radial flow caused by rotation of the first member and to increase the annular motion of the slurry.

2. An amalgamator of the character described comprising, a pair of members providing opposed vertically spaced surfaces defining a relatively wide shallow horizontal space therebetween, the lower surface having a rim to contain mercury, one of said members being mounted for rotation about an axis intersecting said space, slurry inlet means opening to said space adjacent said axis and providing for a fiow of slurry through said space, means for rotating said rotary member to cause the flow of slurry through said space, the upper of said surfaces being permanently amalgamated separate from any amalgamation by said mercury to present an upper amalgamated surface above said mercury to thereby cause intimate contact of all portions of the surry with mercury in said space.

I-IYRUM D. CHRISTENSEN. WILFORD C. LA RUE. VICTOR E. ZACKERSON. 

